Press release

29 May 2014

Riga Shipyard: Shipbuilding and repairing season picking up speed

Joint stock company Riga Shipyard has successfully completed repairs on two large ships and is actively continuing the season by working on other vessels and accepting new orders. Meanwhile, for the first time since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 Riga Shipyard subsidiary Tosmare Shipyard has achieved positive financial indicators. 

The positive result of yesterday’s hearing at the North District Court of the City of Riga and the mutually favourable settlement that was achieved with subcontractors has removed all obstacles to the further development of the company.

Cargo ship UBC Tampico, which sails under the flag of Cyprus and is registered at the port of Limassol, has just sailed from the shipyard’s dock. UBC Tampico is 182.6 metres long, 28.6 metres wide and has a load capacity of 37 821 tonnes. The cargo ship complies with the Panamax vessel classification requirements; the width of the vessel is limited so as to allow it to pass through the Panama Canal, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

During the repairs, the hull of the ship was repainted, steel piping was restored and work was done on the hydraulic cylinders. This was the first time that the Riga Shipyard experts equipped a vessel with a Mewis Duct ducted propeller. This type of propeller allows the ship to efficiently achieve higher speeds, thus saving fuel.

This week repair work was also completed on the tanker Baltic Freedom, which is of similar size – 182 metres long, 27 metres wide, with a load capacity of 37 048 tonnes. Works included restoring the anchor chain, painting, repairs to the main engine and heating system.

Currently, Riga Shipyard is repairing vessel Nova Florida, which is equipped with special climate control devices and intended for transporting foodstuffs, and vessel Navig8, and several other orders are also standing-by, soon to be approved.

As reported previously, during the past two months Riga Shipyard has already completed repairs on several large vessels, such as RN Murmansk, Artic Blizzard, Cape Tees and others, as well as built the vessel PATRICK C.

“At the moment the ship building season has picked up full speed and that gives us reasonable hope that this will be a successful year. Of course, we are also delighted that the settlement achieved with our subcontractors and the resolution of complaints from both sides has removed legal hurdles for the comprehensive work and development of the company,” says Jānis Skvarnovičs, Chairman of the Board of Riga Shipyard.

In turn, Tosmare Shipyard, which is the largest subsidiary of Riga Shipyard, has achieved positive results in the first quarter of this year. This is the first time the shipyard has attained such results since 2008, when Latvia, along with the rest of the world, was hit by the financial crisis.

This year Tosmare Shipyard has already delivered three newly built fishery catamarans to its partner KJ Hydraulics, which is based in the Faroe Islands. Tosmare Shipyard has already built 19 such vessels for KJ Hydraulics, and has received two new orders.

Tosmare Shipyard is also actively working in repairs, and in the first quarter of the year 6 vessels have already been repaired. With the beginning of the repair work season, new orders are expected to come in shortly.

Furthermore, Tosmare Shipyard has entered two new market segments – the open sea industry and restoration of historical vessels.

The company has concluded a contract with TS Reels for the manufacturing of a reel for submarine flexible pipelines. This is Tosmare Shipyard’s first contract in the open sea industry and it is an important challenge for the company, as it will need to increase its qualifications and competence in order to fulfil the highly set requirements. Acquisition of such knowledge and skills will help the company establish its place in the sea manufacturing industry and allow it to take part in international tenders. 

To begin restoration of historical vessels, the company concluded a contract with the Norwegian Foundation on the restoration of passenger vessel MV Rogaland. Within the framework of this contract, Tosmare Shipyard has already completed the restoration of the vessel, which was built in 1929 by Stavanger Støberi & Doc. The ship used to travel from Oslo to Bergen on the popular Night Route.

This is the first contract of this type for Tosmare Shipyard, and it will be valuable experience for the company in its further ventures in this market segment, as the Norwegian Foundation support over 130 ships of this type. 

Board of JSC Riga Shipyard